Lincolnshire county page

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Lincolnshire Towns & Parishes

Nearby Places

Sutton St. James

Archives and Libraries

• Many parish records can be found at the Spalding Library.
  
  

Census

• Sutton St. James was part of the Long Sutton sub-district of the Holbeach Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• Sutton St. James used to be a chapelry of Long Sutton before being formed into its own parish.
  
  
• The original church was built around 1300.
  
  
• The tower was added in the 15th century.
  
  
• Major parts of the church were destroyed during Cromwell's Protectorate but were rebuilt much later in 1879.
  
  
• The church seats 170.
  
  
• Here is a photograph of St. James Church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  

• Here is another photograph of St. James Church (with the tower behind the tree on the right), taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  

• And here is the tower of St. James Church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  

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Church Records

• Anglican parish registers exist from 1570.
  
  
• Sutton St. James is in the East Elloe Deanery, for which several indexes exist.
  
  
• We have a partial parish register extract in a pop-up text file for you. Your additions and corrections are welcome.
  
  
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1841, as did the Baptists in 1813. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Long Sutton sub-district of the Holbeach Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.
  
  

Description and Travel

Sutton St. James is a parish and a village about 102 miles north of London, 3 miles south of the A17 trunk road that runs between King's Lynn and Holbeach. Gedney parish lies to the north and west and Tydd St. Mary parish to the east. The area is marshy fenland, drained by several small canals and the larger South Holland Main Drain.

If you are planning a visit:

• Visit our touring page for visitor services.
  
  

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Maps

• The National Grid Reference is TF 3918.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Names, Geographical

• The name Sutton is from the Old English suth+tun, or "southern village".
  A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was in the ancient Elloe Wapentake in the South Holland district in the parts of Holland.
  
  
• For today's local government, visit the local South Holland District Council site. (JB)
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Holbeach Poor Law Union.
  
  
• The parish combined its various charities into a trust and used the charity income to build dwellings for the poor.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• A school was built in the village in 1859. It was enlarged in 1893 to hold up to 166 children.
  
  
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
  
  

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Note: Sections marked (JB) were contributed by John R. G. Bland of Lincolnshire.

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